That night, Nian Xi ordered five steaks, different flavors. When the steaks were served, Jiang Yuning came downstairs.
The table was long, yet he sat right beside Nian Xi.
“I worried that you may not like steak, so I ordered spaghetti for you.” Nian Xi gave him the only spaghetti on the table.
Jiang Yuning looked at it and frowned.
“Don’t you like it? Uncle Han said that you like it.” Nian Xi was a little worried.
Jiang Yuning lowered his head and wrote her a note. ‘I was going to offer you my steak.’
Nian Xi read the note and smiled. For some reason, she felt warm.
“You gave me yours on the plane. As I’ve said before, what I had was enough and I’ve received your kindness.”
The steak wasn’t well-done, so Nian Xi spent some effort cutting off a piece. Jiang Yuning spent a short while looking at her plate, then quietly dragged her plate to him.
“Oi, what’re you doing?” Before Nian Xi finished talking, he took her knife and fork. He lowered his head and cut the steak into small pieces, quickly and neatly. He did it easily.
“Impressive,” Nian Xi said praising him. “You’re good at that.”
Jiang Yuning nodded, gave her a shy smile and said, “I used to dissect animals for my father.”
Nian Xi didn’t know what to say. Somehow, she lost her appetite.
After he was finished cutting the steak, Jiang Yujing pushed the plate back to Nian Xi. Nian Xi looked at Zhan Hong and Fang Qi who were still struggling with their steaks and said, “Ah, it’s so nice having someone cut my steak for me. He made it so easy. Hmm, yummy.”
While chewing, she closed her eyes to focus on the food in her mouth. Her face made her colleagues jealous.
Fang Qi snorted and said to Zhan Hong, “Zhan, I guess it’s her first time having a man cut her steak. It’s a bit pathetic though. She’s about twenty-six and unmarried. She doesn’t even have a boyfriend.”
Nian Xi’s smile froze on her face. That was hurtful. Feng Ji Chuan never cut steak for her.
When he came home for vacation, they mostly had meals together with their families. Sometimes, they went out to have special Chinese food in Xia City.
Jiang Yuning wasn’t looking at Nian Xi’s face. However, he believed every word Fang Qi said.
He wrote her a note. ‘I’ll cut steaks for you every single day.’
Nian Xi’s hurt heart was slightly healed at that moment but she still felt a little sour, and bitter.
Sitting in front of them, Fang Qi yelled, “Mr. Jiang, I don’t know how to cut my steak either. Can you please help me too?”
Jiang Yuning glanced at him, shook his head and wrote, ‘I don’t know you well.’
Fang Qi didn’t know what to say. Nian Xi laughed happily and even made a face at him.
You deserve this, she thought.
Jiang Yuning looked at her confusedly. He didn’t understand why she suddenly had burst into a smile. He paused briefly, feeling delighted, even though he didn’t really know what was going on.
He wanted to see her smile every day. She looked like a little fox when she smiled.
At 9:00 p.m., Nian Xi’s phone rang before she went to sleep.
Seeing the number on the screen, she paused. Her heart ached a little. Jiang Yuning walked over and pointed at her phone to remind her.
“I’m not answering that.” Nian Xi rejected the call.
Jiang Yuning spent a while gazing at her with confusion, then went to bed.
Two minutes later, Nian Xi received a WeChat message from Feng Ji Chuan —’I just want to know how your trip is going in Paris.’
Nian Xi dropped the phone. She lay down for a while, then sat up again and picked up her phone.
She wanted to reply to his message, but her sanity was telling her not to.
She couldn’t fall asleep; she tossed and turned. Abruptly, Jiang Yuning asked her in a deep voice, “What’s wrong?”